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Excerpt: "N.F.L. owners and players closed in on an agreement in principle Tuesday night on an expected 10-year labor contract. It would ensure that the 16-game season starts on time, give owners a bigger portion of revenue and limit how much money rookies can make.

The deal, coming after four months of litigation and federally overseen negotiation, would end a sometimes rancorous fight that included the longest work stoppage in the league’s history.

The agreement would have a wide range of major changes for players and owners, according to a number of people briefed on the negotiations, including:

¶ A revenue split in which players are expected to receive between 46 and 48 percent of all revenue each year, below the 50-50 formula in the previous deal. Owners said that figure cut so deeply into their margins that it threatened to limit future investment in the game.

¶ A new rookie wage system in which even the top picks in the 2011 draft could sign contracts worth about half of what the top picks signed for in 2010, a concession by players.

¶ Strict limits on the number and intensity of off-season and training camp workouts, including a rule that would all but eliminate the traditional two-a-day practices in training camp — player-safety issues that were especially important to players.

¶ Nearly $1 billion for improved benefits for retired players, a flashpoint for a league that has been battered by criticism for failing to help ailing retired players.

No games would be missed this season. Training camps would open over the next week, and the regular season would start Sept. 8 at Green Bay.

Players and owners must still vote to ratify the agreement. Players, who will also re-form the union they dissolved when talks broke off in March, are expected to vote as soon as Wednesday; owners will do the same at a meeting in Atlanta on Thursday." Read more.

The NFL Players Association on Wednesday is debriefing both the lead and alternate player representatives from each team on the proposed new collective bargaining agreement.

The NFLPA plans to go over the proposed deal and see if it warrants sending to the membership for approval. The lead reps for each team are in Washington at NFLPA headquarters. Those reps not there will take part in a conference call Wednesday morning.

NFLPA president Kevin Mawae said Wednesday morning that the players won't be pressured into agreeing to a deal.

"We're not tied to a timeline of July 21 (when the owners are scheduled to meet in Atlanta). Our timeline is to get a deal that's best for the players," Mawae said.

One thing that shouldn't hold up a possible deal is special considerations to the 10 named plaintiffs in the Brady antitrust lawsuit against the NFL. The NFLPA decided the best course of action was to forgo special compensation for those 10 players as part of a settlement, sources confirmed to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

Mawae referenced this in his comments to reporters Wednesday.

"The deal we're working on is the one that's best for all the players in the NFL and not just four guys," he said.

Oooooohhhhh, BURN!

It will take a majority vote of the players to ratify the deal. The owners would vote on the proposed CBA on Thursday if the players OK the deal Wednesday. Twenty-four of the 32 owners must vote yes for the CBA, expected to cover 10 seasons, to be ratified.

...

With attorneys aiming to produce a finished document in time for votes on Wednesday and Thursday, commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith talked late into the night Tuesday to bring the sides closer to an agreement after a frustrating day of discussions among the players' executive committee in Washington, sources told ESPN's Mortensen.

The executive committee met for more than 10 hours Tuesday before breaking up for the night and player sources say there was a level of frustration at the slow pace of negotiations as an expected vote on a new agreement nears.

The NFL sent a memo to all 32 teams Monday instructing key executives to attend Thursday's owners meeting in Atlanta, sources told ESPN's Schefter. Each team will have two representatives (the owner and one executive) in the room to vote on a CBA, if one is agreed to by players and owners. However, each team also will bring other front-office personnel to learn about the rules of a potential new CBA.

If the owners ratify a new CBA Thursday, players can begin arriving at facilities Friday and team activities can begin as early as Monday.